Dr. Kariamu Welsh was recognized as a pioneer and trailblazer of African diaspora dance, professor of dance at Temple University for 30 years before retiring in 2019, author and editor of seminal works on Afrocentricity and Black movement traditions. Welsh was born Carole Ann Welsh … Read MoreKariamu Welsh Asante (1949-2021)
Choreographer, dancer, artistic director and LGBTQ community activist Alexander Emanuel Simon was born on November 27, 1980, in Christiansted, United States Virgin Islands, to Rufus Emanuel Simon from Basseterre which is part of the Caribbean Island federation of Nevis St. Kitts, and Martha Maria Santiago … Read MoreAlexander Emanuel Simon (1980- )
R&B lyricist, singer, and dancer Jermaine Stewart was born William Jermaine Stewart in Columbus, Ohio, on September 7, 1957, to Eugene Stewart and Ethel M. Stewart. His parents moved the family to Chicago, Illinois, in 1972. Stewart had four siblings Eugene, Jr., Sondra, Leandra, and … Read MoreJermaine Stewart (1957-1997)
Michael Kenneth Williams was an American actor who was best known for playing the role of Omar Little in the HBO hit TV series The Wire. Williams was born on November 22, 1966 to a Bahamian mother, Paula Williams and an American father, Booker T. … Read MoreMichael Kenneth Williams (1966-2021)
Paul Gladney was a dancer, comedian, writer, social critic, and actor best known by his stage name Paul Mooney. Gladney was born on August 4, 1941, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to teenage parents George Gladney and LaVoya Ealy. Along with his Cousin Rudy, mother, and grandparents, … Read MorePaul (Mooney) Gladney (1941-2021)
For over thirty years Sylvia Luz del Villard Güilbert gave global lectures and performances on the African influence in Puerto Rico (PR) as an activist, actress, artist, ballerina, choreographer, coloratura, dancer, declamadora, folklorist, lecturer, orator, painter, teacher, singer, and writer. Reared by Paula Moreno Herrera, … Read MoreSylvia del Villard (1927-1990)
In 1924, Edna Guy was the first African American to study professional dance with Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. Guy loved dance and wanted to perform like Ruth St. Denis. She saw St. Denis dance in concert and met her backstage after writing a … Read MoreEdna Guy McCully (1907-1983)
Actor Rudy Ray Moore was born on March 19, 1927 in Fort Smith, Arkansas as Rudolph Frank Moore. He moved to Cleveland at the age of fifteen and began singing in various nightclubs. At the age of seventeen he got a job in Cleveland’s Blue … Read MoreRudy Ray Moore (1927-2008)
Osborne Hemsley Winfield is considered the first African American modern dancer a pioneer of “Negro concert dancing.” Founder of the New Negro Art Theatre Dance Group, Winfield was a contemporary of Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman and active during the Harlem Renaissance. Born … Read MoreHemsley Winfield (1907-1934)
Loletha Elayne Falana, famously known as actress, singer, dancer and model Lola Falana, was born on September 11, 1942 in Camden, New Jersey. Falana’s mother and father are of African-American and Afro-Cuban heritage respectively. Falana was born the third of six children and got her … Read MoreLola Falana (1942- )
